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"Open Audition \u2013 Florida\nHere&amp;#39;s a glimpse of the designs chosen as the best from the Florida Open Audition held on January 29th at the DCOTA.\nAfter mentally purchasing their Gainesville, Georgia, property &amp;quot;half way down the quarter-mile driveway,&amp;quot; homeowners Tony and Cyndi Chatman paid little attention to the 20-year-old stucco ranch house. Instead, the park-like feeling of the property, located on the shore of Lake Lanier and previously a YMCA camp in the late 1940s, spoke for itself. After a few months living in the house, they decided to focus less on the size of their house and more on its character. With a goal of creating a home that inspired relaxation and respect of its natural surroundings, the Chatmans reworked the existing floor plan, replaced the stucco exterior with cedar shakes and used Japanese joinery throughout, negating the need for nails in construction.\\n\\nThe Chatmans say living in the house during the remodel and working with the existing footprint were challenging, but four years and roughly 6,000 man-hours later, the home is nearly finished. Although, as Tony points out, &amp;quot;there is no such thing as 100 percent finished when working on your own home.&amp;quot;\\n\\nCurrently working on their second project in Key West, Florida, the Chatmans decided to attend the Open Audition in Dania Beach when they saw the ad in an issue of Architectural Digest and learned how many people had attended the event in New York City in October.\nAn aquarium distinguishes a section of the kitchen in a home designed and built by Phil Kean of the award-winning firm, Phil Kean Designs. Rob Turner of CRT Studio, Inc. provided the interior design of the home, which is located in Winter Park, Florida.\\n\\nInspired by architectural masters such as Wright, Rudolph, Schindler and Neutra, Kean wanted to recreate a mid-century modern classic with a focus on an indoor/outdoor living style. &amp;quot;The ability to be inside and outside at the same time is very special and appropriate to the climate most of the year,&amp;quot; he says. This type of living style allowed him to truly maximize the entire space of the lot and eventually avoid challenges related to restrictive local building codes. &amp;quot;Being published in AD has always been a dream of mine,&amp;quot; says Kean, whose work has been featured in a number of local and state publications.\n&amp;quot;The enclosed kitchen did not work for their family&amp;#39;s lifestyle; it was dark, narrow and had wooden cabinets that they disliked,&amp;quot; says Liliana Korn Custy of the vacation condominium in Sunny Isles, Florida, that she designed for a young German family.\\n\\nThe wife wanted to be able to see her children playing while she was in the kitchen. Also, in the same area, the husband needed a small workspace\u2014hidden from view and accessible when necessary, and able to accommodate a laptop and fax machine. &amp;quot;I suggested designing a kitchen open to the big room by eliminating the wall which divided the kitchen from the living room,&amp;quot; says the North Miami Beach-based designer.\\n\\nFloor-to-ceiling lacquered doors (background, right) were chosen for the pantry and to hide the desk area with the fax and the flat panel TV. &amp;quot;By doing this they were able to enjoy the ocean and the intercoastal views from anywhere in the apartment.&amp;quot; Custy has been a reader of AD since her early years attending architectural school in Argentina. &amp;quot;When I moved to the United States,&amp;quot; she adds, &amp;quot;I brought with me old issues of Architectural Digest, which I had treasured as very valuable possessions over the years.&amp;quot;\nBefore and after photos document the dramatic transformation of a kitchen in a Ft. Lauderdale residence owned by Christopher Yearwood, who is also responsible for the interior design. &amp;quot;My kitchen was by far the largest remodeling project of my 1959 home,&amp;quot; Yearwood says of the new space created by combining the original kitchen and master bedroom into one expansive room.\\n\\nBelieving that the kitchen is truly &amp;quot;the heart of the home,&amp;quot; Yearwood sought to create a warm and inviting environment with special consideration for lighting. &amp;quot;The island soffit alone has five different lighting components,&amp;quot; he says. Glass mosaic tile plays off the scrapped chestnut floors. &amp;quot;[After] the many years of designing for not only myself, but consulting for others,&amp;quot; Yearwood remarks, &amp;quot;this achievement gives me the courage to take on even larger projects in the future.&amp;quot; This is Yearwood&amp;#39;s first attempt at publishing his work.\nWhile researching the best avenue for publishing a custom home by her husband, Craig Danto of Danto Builders, Debbie Danto came across an ad for Architectural Digest&amp;#39;s Open Audition at Florida&amp;#39;s DCOTA. Believing Danto&amp;#39;s collaboration with Elliot Acosta, of Design Interiors, and homeowner Alan Levy, of Levy Realty Advisors, was &amp;quot;a unique story in itself of how they all passionately worked together to make Levy&amp;#39;s dream home become a reality,&amp;quot; they decided to attend the event on January 29th.\\n\\nHaving been friends and colleagues for over 25 years, Levy went to Danto when he wanted to build his own home in Boca Raton, Florida. After choosing a conceptual style, he placed the project in Danto&amp;#39;s hands from a design-and-build perspective, and then brought Acosta into the mix to help with the interior design and a few special features. For the grandchildren&amp;#39;s room (pictured), Danto brought in Dan Daddona of Daddona Studios, well-known in the South Florida region for theme rooms designs. Danto reconstructed the room to ensure that Daddona&amp;#39;s design fit perfectly.\\n\\nIn the end, a delicate balance between Levy&amp;#39;s desires and the features that the style of the home could support was struck. In addition, systems for a &amp;quot;smart home&amp;quot; were added and energy efficient, environmentally friendly and hurricane proof elements included. The open layout allows the interior living space to flow effortlessly into the outside living area, complete with a summer kitchen, and taking full advantage of the natural foliage xeriscape."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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